Starting 5 for 2010-11

A less radical approach to the start of the season. Start whoever, but play the youth.

1st unit: Stuckey, Gordon, JJ, CV, Monroe

This crew plays the first 8 minutes of each half, and their mission is to run. Tay takes the place of JJ in the 2nd half.

The end of the game, the last 8 minutes, play Ben Wallace at center, Monroe at power forward, Tay at small forward, Stuckey at point, Rip at shooting guard.

Eight minutes per half, including the last 4 of the 1st & 3rd quarters, and the first 4 of the 2nd & 4th quarters, play White at point, Daye at shooting guard, Summers at small forward, Diogu at power forward, JMAX at center.

Last 8 minutes of the 1st half: Stuckey, Rip, TMAC, CV, Monroe.

For minutes, this is:

Stuckey 32 White 16

Gordon 16 Rip 16 Daye 16

Tay 16 (all in the 2nd half - no chance that the back will tighten during halftime - for now.) TMAC 8 JJ 8 Summers 16

Monroe 8 (at power forward) (He gets 32 total) Diogu 16 CV 24

Monroe 24 (at center) (He gets 32 total) JMAX 16 Ben Wallace 8 (does not mean he could not play more if other bigs are having foul trouble or can't handle their defensive assignment well enough.)

This does leave Bynum out for the moment - but I bet every day he stays off that ankle helps. Note, Gordon too could use some more time off to heal his ankle- but perhaps playing just 16 minutes per game is enough of a rest for him - hopefully.

Basically, this is a camp rotation - and I think we should use it for the first month of the season, not just camp. For three reasons, let people heal more fully, shorten up the season some, and to level out the playing field for eveyone competing for minutes.

Some realities for now. Gordon has an ankle that is hurting still. Tay could very well have more back problems if he does not take it easy getting back into the season. TMAC admitted he could not move laterally last year, so now we know why NY was not playing him. And why most likely his knee still needs time.

Meanwhile, Daye is looking real good. Summers, White, and Monroe have seen no significant time to where we can really judge their potential yet.

Also, Rip is just getting older. He is not the future starting shooting guard for us. Maybe a year or two. Lets look both short term, and long term on this one.

Stuckey, Daye, Summers, Monroe, Ben Wallace start. They run, but Ben Wallace mostly hangs back to prevent fast breaks going back the other way. Let him take it easy, as the other four guys should be able to finish many breaks without him.

This first unit has three decent shooters, two with good range in Daye and Summers. It is going to be tough for Monroe to post up with them doubling him off Ben. We will have to be doing a lot of cuts in, hopefully Monroe can pass as well as advertised. Could be a lot Ben Wallace dunks with this setup.

Now, to contine the fast breaks, the 2nd unit:

White, Rip, Tay, JJ, JMAX.

Last two guys dressed: Bynum in case he is needed to run the point, and CV for scoring punch where needed. As I am proposing a running game all the way here, using all 12 guys, to make sure as many fast breaks are run full tilt as possible, is a good idea. Also, CV can come in for Tay often, moving JJ to small forward - letting JJ play his more natural position and ensuring Tay don't run too much early in the season.

For now, this leaves Gordon healing up his ankle, Wilcox keeping his season short in hopes his back will heal more permanently, TMAC spending time on knee strengthening excercises to regain his lateral movement (my favorite - kicking around an old easy chair with the inside and then the outside of my leg. That and a lot of band work.) And Bynum too giving his ankle more time to fully heal. (Fully healing an ankle is important - if he reinjures it, the injury could get chronic.) Then you got a guy with no guaranteed contract in Diogu coming off knee surgery. I guess he did not play in the scrimmage today. Can't hurt to shorten his season up if he is sticking around. (He would be the 16th signing to a contract - thus making it needed to let somebody else go. And no, don't let Summers go, who is fully healthy. Got to be one of the injured guys. Healthy players are needed.

Ok, so Kuester is open to playing Gordon at the point, to get him and Rip in there at the same time. So lets say its midseason, and some things have been decided. One, McGrady is not yet ready for prime time. Two, Tay can't make it thru the whole season at a 38 minute a game pace - and he is now injured - looking to get back for the playoffs. Diogu is gone - the knee did not heal fast enough.

To the good, after a rough start, Gordon's ankle has come into shape and he is now kicking out 20 points a game routinely. CV is having the year we all hoped and is chipping in 15 points off the bench as well, making him and Ben Gordon the number one scoring duo off the bench in the league.

Summers has beaten out JJ for most of the small forward minutes, mainly because his 3 point shooting is proving very valuable.

Starting: Stuckey, Rip, Summers, Monroe, Ben Wallace.

2nd unit: Gordon, Daye, JJ, CV, JMAX

CV is so much quicker with the weight loss that we are playing him at small forward some, and often he comes in for Summers as Gordon comes in for Stuckey early in the first quarter, giving:

Gordon, Rip, CV, Monroe, Ben Wallace.

Next, Daye and JMAX come in the game, giving:

Gordon, Daye, CV, Monroe, JMAX.

JJ then comes in to complete the 2nd unit, moving CV to power forward.

Summers and Stuckey return, giving:

Stuckey, Gordon, Summers, CV, JMAX.

Ben Wallace and Rip return, giving:

Stuckey, Rip, Summers, JMAX, Ben Wallace. (Our defensive unit)

Monroe comes back in and we are back to the starting unit to end the first half.

Or, sometimes, its Summers who comes out for Monroe here, and we experiment with a big unit of:

While Wilcox is not the greatest center around, I think we saw flashes last season where he showed that he is the only Piston who consistently plays "above the rim". If he is healthy, I think he is a viable starting center. If big Ben starts, we could use Wilcox to pretty much split time with Ben. So...

It is hard to see where Summers will get any time barring an injury, and if Monroe gets time it will be at the expense of Max.

Wallace's minutes will be monitored this season and someone will have to step up and fill the intensity void when he is not in there. This is the season Wilcox can prove he can do it. If not, he will be a fill-in in any trade involving Hamilton or Prince.

While Wilcox is not the greatest center around, I think we saw flashes last season where he showed that he is the only Piston who consistently plays "above the rim". If he is healthy, I think he is a viable starting center. If big Ben starts, we could use Wilcox to pretty much split time with Ben. So...

It is hard to see where Summers will get any time barring an injury, and if Monroe gets time it will be at the expense of Max.

Wallace's minutes will be monitored this season and someone will have to step up and fill the intensity void when he is not in there. This is the season Wilcox can prove he can do it. If not, he will be a fill-in in any trade involving Hamilton or Prince.

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Wilcox showed flashes for a few games, when used sparingly, somewhere about mid-season. Soon though, he looked terrible, pretty much unable to move out there. After several games of that (possibly hoping the back would loosen up) Wilcox was played no more. They said it was hamstring problems. But now Wilcox recently admitted it was lingering back problems, stemming from a camp injury last year, that kept him out the whole season pretty much. Interesting that its supposedly another "hamstring" injury being announced again. Hmmm, is it the hamstring - or is the back just not sound?

Until Wilcox actually plays a string of games, injury free, I ain't going to give no hope to him being in the rotation.

I follow what he does on a game by game basis very closely. They say familiarity breeds contempt. At this point, I can think of only one thing he did right last season - play JMAX consistent minutes. He got everything else wrong. And it was not due to injuries. His wrong decisions started in pre-season and never let up.

I follow what he does on a game by game basis very closely. They say familiarity breeds contempt. At this point, I can think of only one thing he did right last season - play JMAX consistent minutes. He got everything else wrong. And it was not due to injuries. His wrong decisions started in pre-season and never let up.

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I don't see the advantage of dumping him after one year. First time head coaches always have rough periods. The team didn't even underachieve with him in all his mistakes. We need to let a guy grow. If he continues making mistakes then let him go. It's not even like we need a "better" coach to get to a next level.